And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said. 

Exodus 12:31 

After God had done all that He had done to instruct His people, He finished what He had started.  On the first Passover, the children of Israel did all that God required in the sacrifice of the lamb, the application of the blood, and the consumption of the sacrifice.  Jehovah Himself passed over on that night and destroyed the firstborn in the houses of all those where the blood was not in evidence.  It was only after the sacrifice of the lamb that the Israelites obtained their freedom.  We can offer this testimony as well.  Before the application of the Blood of Christ, we were in bondage to all the passions, the pride, and entrapments of the world, the flesh, and the Devil.  We could by no human means free ourselves.  We were slaves and had been slaves all our lives, like our fathers before us.  It has been only by the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God, that we have become free.  He has made the difference for us between death and life.  He has made the difference for us between slavery and liberty.  We owe all that we have of true freedom to the saving Blood of Christ, to His Person, and His Work.  Therefore, we will make much of Him.  Therefore, we will preach His Gospel.  Therefore, we will shout to all from the rooftops, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.’ 

Our Glorious, Liberating God. 
We rejoice that You have brought us out of the house of bondage. 
We praise You that the Son has made us free, 
and that we are free indeed. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 

Exodus 12:2 

God gave His order to Israel’s calendar.  It is significant for us to consider where and how God wanted Israel to begin their year.  He began it with Passover.  It was at that season that they would select the lamb, observe the lamb, kill the lamb, and consume the lamb.  It was the blood of the lamb that would deliver them from death, for God said, ‘and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.’  It was because of the effects of the Passover, that the Israelites would gain their freedom from Egypt.  For us to understand this, we should consider the statement of the New Testament, ‘For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.’  God intended that His chosen people should begin their year by looking to the lamb.  It is even so with us.  We have come today to what is for us the, beginning of months.  If we want to begin well, continue well, and finish well, we must look to Christ.  He is, as John the Baptist described Him, ‘the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.’  Now is the time for us to set our course for the incoming year.  Let us begin with Christ, His Person and His work.  Let us fix our eyes upon the Altogether Lovely One.  He has lived perfectly, died sacrificially, arisen powerfully, intercedes perpetually and is coming gloriously. 

Our Glorious, Living Savior, 
we rejoice in the privilege that we have 
  to begin our year, by looking to You. 
We praise You that You will lead us aright, 
in all our ways, throughout this new year. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover. 

Exodus 12:11 

It is significant as to how the Israelites were attired on the night of the Passover.  God instructed them to be prepared to leave the land of their imprisonment.  They had been in Egypt for 430 years.  The Egyptians had made them slaves.  Now, they were to go free.  It is interesting to note that the lamb played a vital role in the accomplishment of their liberation.  It was the lamb and most specifically, the blood of the lamb that would mean the difference between life and death.  In the homes where the blood appeared upon the lintel and posts, there was life.  In the homes where the blood was absent, there was certain death.  God showed His people the value of the lamb while they were still in bondage.  It is even so with us.  Herein lies the value of the preaching of the Gospel.  We preach it to all and sundry.  We make a full and free offer of the Gospel.  We set forth the virtue and value of Christ to those who are, as yet, ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’  It is up to the Holy Spirit to do the work of regeneration, to grant repentance, and to give faith to believe.  He can convince the natural unbeliever of the virtue and value of Christ the Lamb of God.  May the Holy Spirit show you Christ today, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.’ 

Our Wise and Wonderful Savior, 
we rejoice that Your Blood makes the difference 
between life and death for us. 
We praise You that You daily show us Yourself, 
in the Word, and draw us out,  
evermore thoroughly after You and unto freedom. 

And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.  And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 

Exodus 12: 6 & 7 

As God detailed the process whereby His people would begin their year with the lamb, He arrived at the moment of sacrifice. He declared that ‘the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.’  This produced bloodshed.  They would cut the throat of the lamb and catch the blood in a basin.  They would then take a sprig of hyssop, dip it in the blood and sprinkle it upon the lintel and doorposts.  They did not apply it to the threshold, because they would not tread upon the blood.  The sacrifice was indispensable, as was the blood.  God declared, ‘And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.’  It was not the blood in the basin that saved.  It was the blood applied that saved.  Herein lies the value of the Saving Blood of Christ.  Hebrews tells us that, ‘without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.’  Hebrews goes on to say, ‘But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.’  We stand upon the merits of Christ and rest for our redemption in the power of His atoning Blood.  His Sacrifice is the once-for-all sacrifice for sin.  His Blood, applied by the Holy Spirit unto all for whom it is intended is the guarantee of eternal life as opposed to eternal death.  Look today to ‘the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.’  Rest by faith in the Saving Blood of Christ. 

‘Dear Dying Lamb, Your Precious Blood, 
shall never lose its power, 
and all the ransomed church of God, 
be saved to sin no more.’  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 

Exodus 12:6 

When God gave His people instructions regarding the Passover lamb, with which they were to begin their year, He stipulated that they were to ‘keep’ the lamb until the fourteenth day of the month.  What possible value would there have been in this penning of the animal which was already ‘without blemish?’  This extended period gave opportunity for a through observation of the lamb to establish, beyond shadow of doubt, his fitness to be the sacrifice.  This harmonizes with what we know of the life of Christ.  Christ grew up before the eyes of His people.  They had ample opportunity to observe Him as He came and went before them.  Their testimony was ‘He has done all things well.’  He could issue the challenge, ‘Which of you can prove me guilty of sin?’  Even after His accusers had arraigned Him before Pilate, the verdict of the governor was, ‘I find no fault in Him.’  In all of His dealings and doings over the course of His life and ministry, Christ proved Himself to be perfect in thought, word and deed.  This demonstrated Him to be completely qualified to be the Substitutionary Sacrifice.  As we dwell upon Christ today, let us spend some time considering His perfect life, as the antecedent to His atoning death. 

Our Perfect, Holy Savior, 
we rejoice in Your sinless life. 
We praise You that You have done all that is necessary, 
to satisfy the law in precept, 
and You have done so on our behalf. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning